Most reliable printer + CISS system combination...

[Martin Smith]

Dear all,

I am new to these forums, so I apologise if this is a regularly asked question, but my old Canon Pixma iP4300 that I modified to house a CISS system is at the end of its life and so I am looking for a replacement (to be purchased in the UK).

For me, the most important thing is reliability, followed by quality.

Typical use is not heavy, with a few hundred pages a week at most.

I would greatly appreciate if anyone could recommend what combination can provide this going forward.

Please let me know if you require any more information.

Thank you so much in advance.

Martin

 

[The Hat]

Hi Martin and welcome to the best forum around bar none.

Firstly what’s happened to your good old 4300, can it not be saved from the junk yard, it may cost a bit to rescue but it would be well worth it.

Unfortunately there is not much in the way of good Canon printers that will fit both of your requirements without spending a whack of your £’s

I would suggest you cruse EBay to see if there are any older printers still available that would suite your kind of operation, even go as far as the European sites, you never know you might get lucky.

Here is a list of some of the Canon models that might be of help to you to decide on your next move, all of the newer models are not much good for the home user to tinker with anymore..

http://www.printerknowledge.com/thr...s-the-poor-canon-printers-for-refilling.7282/

 

[PeterBJ]

I agree with The Hat that the iP4300 should be saved if possible.

Here is a simplified service manual to help in the repair. Before download see this instruction.

If you need to use service mode to reset the absorber counter or perform test/info prints, then be aware that the service manual has an error regarding service mode operations, see this warning.

Here is an excellent instruction for disassembling the printer for change of the ink absorbers. The instruction is in German, but you can use Google Translate, if you don't read German.

I also agree with the Hat that if your iP4300 cannot be saved, it is worth looking for a used similar printer in good working order.

In my opinion the iP4300 and other printers that use the QY6-0061 print head probably were the best all-round printers Canon ever made for home use. Printers that use this print head are: iP4300, iP5200, iP5200R, MP600, MP800, MP800R and MP830. The R suffix models have both USB and network connectivity. Maybe you could find one of these printers in a good working condition? Else other Canon printers of the PGI-5/CLI-8 generation are also worth looking for. With the exception of some PRO models later Canon printers are of a lower build quality than the PGI-5/CLI-8 printers, with a bent sheet metal print head carriage rail instead of a polished steel rod. See this.

 

[Sherden]

I am in the same situation (my iP4300 just decided to show a faulty Printhead issue). You can look also for an IP4500/5300/MP610/MP810/MX850, that have a different head (QY6-0075-000) but uses the same PGI-5/CLI-8 cartridges and should be a little bit better than your iP4300.

Please consider that depending on the symptoms, your iP4300 could be still saved from trash